Tonight was another marathon cooking class.  We made chocolate pasta with a beef ragu and more cookies.  

For the Pasta:

Ingredients:

1 2/3 C all-purpose flour

1/4 C unsweetened cocoa

1 scant t cinnamon

1 scant t nutmeg

1/2 t sugar

1/4 t salt

3 large eggs, lightly beaten with a t of EVOO

Directions:

1. (My directions will vary from Chef’s as she does everything by hand.)
2. Place all dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer.  Use the dough hook.
3. Dig a hole in the middle and pour in the egg mixture.  Using the dough hook and a spatula to incorporate the dry into the wet, knead the dough for about 10 minutes.  
4. Finish a little kneeling on the surface.  Flatten the dough and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rest for 30 minutes.  
5. Cut the dough into four pieces.  Work one piece at a time and keep the other pieces covered in plastic wrap.  
6. Flatten the dough into a rough rectangle, and roll through the pasta machine at the widest number.  Then fold the dough in the three layers and roll through again.  Continue passing the dough through the rollers changing the numbers from think to thinner one at a time.  
7. Flour the sheets toward the end to prevent the dough from sticking in the machine. 
8. Finally pull the dough through the fettuccini roller and place on a floured plate.
9. Bring 4 qts. of water to a boil with 3 T salt.  Drop in the pasta and cook for about 3 minutes until tender.  Scoop out pasta with a slotted spoon and add to the meat sauce.  

For the Sauce:

Ingredients:

2-3 T EVOO

1# ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 t cinnamon’1/2 t nutmeg

1 t red pepper flakes

1/3 C white wine

1/3 C red wine

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

1-3 springs fresh oregano, leaves minced

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan.  Add the onions.  Cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes.  Add the garlic and spices.  Cook a minute more.  Add the meat and cook, breaking it apart, until browned.  Add both wines.  Let evaporate by half.  
2. Add the tomatoes and season with salt & pepper.  Bring to a simmer and cover.  Cook on medium-low heat (make sure meat is simmering slowly). 
3. Cook for about 1 hour.  Stir oregano into sauce and serve with chocolate pasta.

For the Cookies:

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter

5 T sugar

3 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 C flour + 2 T

4 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

For the Icing:

2 T unsalted butter, very soft

1 1/4 C powdered sugar

1/4 t lemon extract

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar till smooth in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
2. Add eggs and vanilla extract.  Beat to combine.  
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour and baking powder.  Add to butter-sugar-egg mixture.  Beat to combine until a dough forms.  
4. With the smallest ice cream scoop, scoop out small balls of dough and place on 2 sill pat lined baking sheets.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes until cookies are slightly colored golden-tan.  Use a spatula to gently move cookies from baking pan to a rack.
6. Make the icing:  In a medium mixing bowl, use a spoon to mash the butter flat.  Add the sugar.   Run tap water until it is very hot.  Drizzle a little hot water, about a tsp. and stir to combine, mixing quickly to incorporate ate the butter.  Add tiny splashes of water until you reach a consistency like honey.
7. When cookies are cool, dip them top-first into the icing, then stand them icing side up on a flat surface.  
8. You can store cookies in airtight tins once the icing has dried and set.  

The cookies are delicious.  This was a marathon, but time well spent.  Jim and I both loved the pasta dish.  He’d asked all day long, “You are putting beef on chocolate?”  Complete disbelief until he tasted it.